On the new Difference Engine, what had once been the Tree of the Supernatural had now become an entire stage, and the icons for allocating points had turned into Puppets of various shapes.
Elliot had only just given Vanessa a point in [Vitality] not long ago, and he distinctly remembered what those different dolls looked like.
There had definitely not been one holding a book!
Elliot leaned closer and carefully examined the miniature book in the doll's hands. After a moment's hesitation, he tried reaching for it.
The way to allocate points on this interface was to pull these Puppets up.
The moment Elliot's hand touched the Puppet holding the book, it wobbled to its feet, and then-
Then Elliot pushed it straight back down.
He only wanted to look at its book, not allocate a point.
A trace of bewilderment flashed through the Puppet's eyes-then quickly turned to anger as it struggled to jump up and snatch the book back.
Unfortunately, this Puppet had a chibi design, with an oversized head and very short limbs. With Elliot holding its head down, it could only wave its stubby arms in vain.
"'Sevenfold Record of Broken Oaths'-damn it, why is the text in here so tiny? I can't read any of it!"
The book was sized in proportion to the Puppet. Elliot was lucky he could even read the cover; the densely packed writing inside was completely illegible.
After some thought, he stuffed the book back into the Puppet's hands. The little thing hurriedly hugged it close and eyed Elliot warily.
"Strange, I clearly haven't made a sacrifice-"
Allocating points required sacrificing enough offerings to light up the Golden Threads.
But Vanessa had not made any sacrifices at all this time. All the other Puppets looked lifeless, and when Elliot reached